The Houston Cougars continued their night-of-the-living-dead journey through the Conference USA Championship with a 74-66 semifinals victory against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Friday night.

The next step, should UH manage to take it, would be a giant one for Cougarskind. A victory against the top-seeded UTEP Miners (26-5) in a 10:30 a.m. title game today at the BOK Center would send the Cougars (18-15) dancing into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992.

Aubrey Coleman scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half for the seventh-seeded Cougars. Adam Brown provided 13 points’ worth of spark off the bench and Kevin Lewis added 12 for UH, which is one victory away from becoming the fourth school to get into the NCAAs on the watch of embattled coach Tom Penders.

“I just want to thank coach Penders for not giving up on us, even though we had a bad season and there were rumors going on about him,” Coleman said. “People don’t really know him. He’s a great man. He never gave up on us. Even though we lost close games, he never pointed his finger at any one of us.”

As Coleman spoke, Penders’ eyes welled. Penders needed a few minutes to compose himself before he could respond.

“Sometimes coaching can be a real bummer, and we’ve been through a lot of stress and strain and abuse our families because we’re never around,” Penders said. “A kid like that makes it all worthwhile. It’s nice to have this opportunity.”

The Cougars put themselves in this position by matching their season-high winning streak of three. Though forward Gary Flowers got rolling early for USM, the Cougars ultimately made him take 24 shots to score 24 points. Three games after Penders’ exhortation to play with the fearlessness of dead men walking, the words still resonate with the players.

Instant offense

“We had nothing to lose, so why not give it your all?” said Brown, who led UH to a 29-9 advantage in points off the bench. “We also knew that even though we had a rough season, we still had that shot.”

The Golden Eagles (20-13) dominated the boards early, grabbing seven of the game’s first eight rebounds. In a related development, USM built leads of 8-4, 17-10 and 22-14. Enter Brown and Zamal Nixon off the bench for some instant offense.

Brown went microwave over a 3:45 span, hitting a left-handed drive and two 3s. Nixon contributed a 3 and an 18-foot jumper during a 15-2 run that put UH ahead 29-24. Golden Eagles guard R.L. Thornton tempered some of that momentum by hitting a three-quarters-court, 3-pointer at the buzzer that cut the UH lead to 31-30.

Coleman helped along the process for the Cougars, coming back from a 3-for-9 first half to break down the USM defense again and again during the final 20 minutes. He shot 5-for-10 from the field and 10-for-12 from the line in the second half.

Short memory

“When I miss shots, I never let it get to me,” Coleman said. “I think the next shot is going in. I never call it struggling. I just continue to play. Everybody contributed. I’m not going to beat one team.”

Coleman missed a 3 with the Cougars clinging to a 63-59 lead with barely two minutes remaining, but Maurice McNeil retrieved the rebound, drew a foul and made two free throws. When Lewis missed a 3 on the next UH possession, McNeil came through with another rebound and got to the line again.

“I just went in there like, ‘I’ve got to get this,’” McNeil said. “I was just hungry for those rebounds.”

Brown and Coleman combined to make 10 of 12 free throws in the final 54 seconds, putting UH in position to become the fourth team to win four games in four days to capture the C-USA title. Somehow, they’ll have to find enough bounce in their step to take on a 25th-ranked UTEP team that has won 16 in a row since 75-65 defeat to UH on Jan. 13 at Hofheinz Pavilion.

“Our team is full of workhorses,” Coleman said. “I know I’m the No. 1 workhorse on the team. I don’t get tired. I don’t get winded. Our legs are still under us. No excuses, baby. We’re in, now. No excuses. Get it done. Tired? No. Excited? Yeah.”